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Israelis protest hate crimes in wake of baby's death

Thousands attend rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem after occupied West Bank arson attack and Gay Pride march stabbings.

02 Aug 2015 07:16 GMT

In Jerusalem, hundreds protested both against the West Bank arson attack and stabbings at a Gay Pride march [EPA]

Thousands of Israelis have held protests against hate crimes, as the parents and brother of a Palestinian baby burned to death by suspected Jewish settlers continued to fight for their lives in hospital.

The firebombing of the family's home in the occupied West Bank that killed 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsheh on Friday, sparked an international outcry over Israel's failure to curb violence by hardline Jewish settlers.

The child's father, Saad, was being treated for third-degree burns at the Soroka hospital in southern Israel on Saturday, where a spokeswoman described his condition as "critical".

Family members told Al Jazeera that Reham's condition was life-threatening and had worsened since Friday.

The family's small brick and cement home in the village of Duma was gutted by fire early on Friday morning, and a Jewish Star of David spray-painted on a wall along with the words "revenge" and "long live the Messiah".

In Tel Aviv, around 2,000 people, including an uncle of the dead Palestinian child, participated in a rally on Saturday organised by the Peace Now settlement watchdog group.

"We call on the government to take strong action against the violence of the settlers and to restart immediately the peace process," Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer told the AFP news agency.